Baking Troubleshooting: Common Issues & Solutions for Baked Goods, Study Guides, Projects, Research of Nutrition

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4-H Foods Judging Guide

Adapted and Revised Edition

• University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension, Polk County, 1999, 2006, 2007, 2010, Amy Peterson, M.S., R.D. Extension Educator
• HOW TO BE A GOOD JUDGE
• COMMON TERMS USED FOR JUDGING FOOD PRODUCTS
• COOKIES
• CAKES
• QUICK BREAD LOAVES AND COFFEE CAKES
• PIES
• YEAST BREADS
• YEAST ROLLS
• PASTRIES
• CROISSANTS AND DANISHES
• PUFF PASTRIES
• PHYLLO DOUGHS
• MUFFINS
• BISCUITS AND SCONES
• BREAD MACHINE BAKED GOODS
• MICROWAVED BAKED PRODUCTS
• GLUTEN FREE BAKED PRODUCTS
• FOOD PRESERVATION
• FRUIT LEATHER
• DRYING FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
• FRUIT SPREADS
• JELLIES
• JAMS AND CONSERVES
• PRESERVES AND MARMALADES
• CANNED FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
• CANNED MEATS
• PICKLED AND FERMENTED FOODS
• MAKING MEALTIME MANNERS MATTER!
• WRITING THE WINNING MENU
• REFERENCES

Other tips for a successful judging session include:

1. Avoid hand lotions or perfumes.

2. Use all senses – seeing, touching, smelling, hearing, and tasting – in foods judging. Taste is the most subjective

sense and it can be a deciding factor when all other factors are equal.

3. Be consistent in the methods you use in judging. This insures fairness to all exhibitors.

4. To check the tenderness and texture of a product: -break open muffins, biscuits, rolls, and cookies. Cut loaves of

yeast breads and quick breads from one-third to one-half the way in from the end. Cut out a thin slice to view the

grain, moisture, blending of ingredients, etc.

5. Cut and remove wedges from cakes. Cut wedges large enough to provide optimum evaluation. Avoid cutting corners

of cakes.

6. Open, when necessary, jars of jelly, jam, other preserves, and pickles. Cut jelly with a knife to test consistency.

Remove a portion of the product and reseal immediately. Do not open canned fruits, vegetables, or meats.

Common Terms Used for Judging Food Products

Appearance of food determines the acceptance or rejection of the food before it is tasted. First impressions are

important! The color, the crust or outer covering, the apparent dryness or moistness of the product, the shape or

volume, or the size of the piece affects the general appearance of the food. When a garnish is used, it should

enhance the appearance of the food.

Texture is the way food feels to the touch and the mouth. The fineness or coarseness of the grain or fiber of a

food influences the texture. Grain refers to the cell structure. How big is the cell, how thick are the walls of the

cell, how evenly are the cells distributed throughout the mass? Answers to these questions help to describe

texture. Fiber is the thread-like structure in the cells of the food. For example, you can readily see the fibers in

such foods as meat, asparagus, and celery.

Crumb is a very small piece of bread, cake, cookie, or other food. By examining the crumb of a food carefully,

you can describe the “feel” of a food.

Consistency of a food is important to texture and to appearance. Consistency is the degree of firmness, density, or

viscosity (the flow) of the food.

Tenderness of food can be measured by the force needed to break, bite, or chew it. Foods that can crumble easily

may be too dry or too tender.

Flavor of a food is a combination of its taste and aroma. There are four basic taste sensations: sour or acidic,

salty, bitter, or sweet. Certain odors are associated with certain tastes. For example, the odor of milk may tell us

that it is sweet or sour without ever tasting it. Another flavor classification might be spicy, flowery, fruity,

resinous, foul or burnt.

Temperature of a food is in general, at the temperature at which the food is normally served.

Cookies

Cookies come in many shapes and sizes. There are six main types of cookies: rolled, dropped, refrigerator,

pressed, bar, and no-bake cookies.

 Rolled cookies are made from a stiff dough that is rolled on a lightly floured board to the desired

thickness and cut out into shapes.

 Dropped cookies are made from a soft dough that is dropped onto a cookie sheet. They may or may not

be flattened.

 Refrigerator cookies are made from a dough high in fat that is chilled. Cookies are then shaped into balls

or sliced into a roll before baking.

 Pressed cookies are made from a rich, stiff dough that is pushed through a cookie press.

 Bar cookies may be more like a cake or may be chewy and are made from a stiff batter that is baked in a

shallow pan and cut into squares or bars when cool.

 No-bake cookies are made from ready-to-eat cereals, chow mein noodles, oatmeal, nuts, raisins, or

coconut and held together with a cooked syrup. Their quality can become affected by heat and may melt

or become sticky or oily, depending on the weather.

What to Look For What Happened Because Of SHAPE Uniform Run together Batter spaced too closely together on baking sheet before baking.

Irregular shape, peaks, or cracks Drop Cookies: Improper dropping of dough Dough too thick or too thin Rolled or Refrigerator Cookies: Dough not chilled Thin sharp knife not used for slicing Cutter not used for slicing VOLUME Medium, about 2 ½ - 3” in diameter Flat Expired baking powder

Uneven in size Varying amounts of dough used

Excessive spreading Dough too warm Cookie sheets not cooled between use Incorrect oven temperature Liquid not measured accurately Flour not measured accurately Incorrect form of fat used, such as melted, whipped, or oil form COLOR Evenly browned Too dark

Pale on top, burned on bottom

Dark crusty edges Loose flour on top

Baked too long or oven too hot Baking sheet or pan with dark, non-stick coating or glass pan was used without lowering oven temp 25º

Oven rack not in middle of oven For Bar Cookies – the pan may be too deep for the amount of batter in it. The pan should not be more than 2/3’rds full.

Overbaking Poor mixing techniques

CRUST

Dry in appearance Shiny or sticky Too much sugar Didn’t bake long enough

TEXTURE Rolled or refrigerator Crisp and tender Drop Moist, soft, and tender Bar Moist and tender

Soft

Tough

Sticky

Dry

Crumbly Hard

Cut too thick

Too much flour Dough overhanded

Too much sugar

Too much shortening, fat, or flour

Too much flour Oven too hot or baked too long Flour too high in protein FLAVOR

Delicate, sweet Well blended Characteristic of ingredients

Rancid

Bitter

Rancid fat or stale ingredients

Too much baking soda or baking powder or other leavening agent Too much or too little flavoring Doughy, raw flavor Under baked Dough too stiff

COLOR

Uniform Uneven browning Uneven oven heat Insufficient leavening Under mixed

Light brown Dark spots or streaks Too much leavening Insufficient creaming, mixing, or sifting

Too light or too dark Incorrect oven temperature and/or baking time Incorrect placement of pan in oven Pan too large (too light) Too much sugar (too dark) CRUST

Smooth and uniform Hard Wrong oven temperature or baking time

Sticky or shiny Not baked long enough

Tough Too much sugar Not enough shortening or sugar Too much flour

Sticks to pan Over mixing Left in pan too long Didn’t grease pan enough

Moist Insufficient or improper cooling Wrong oven temp or baking time Humid storage conditions

Cracked Too hot an oven at the beginning of the baking period Batter too stiff Pan too narrow or too deep TEXTURE

Tender, moist crumb Light and fluffy

Tough cake Not enough shortening, sugar, or baking powder

Feels velvety to tongue Fine, round evenly distributed cells

Too light, crumbly, or dry Over baked Under mixed Not enough fat, sugar, or liquid Too much leavening Oven too hot Too much flour Overbeating egg whites Substitution of cocoa for chocolate without increasing fat

Soggy gelarinous layer or heavy streak

Shortening too soft Under mixed Under baked Too much liquid Damp flour Wrapped before cooled Too much liquid with a high water content ( i. e. fruit, pumpkin, or applesauce)

Heavy, compact Overbeating or under creaming Incorrect oven temperature Pan too small Poor quality shortening Not enough leavening

Coarse grain Insufficient creaming Use of bread flour Too much liquid, sugar, or shortening Oven too slow Oil used instead of shortening

Falls apart when removed from pan Too much fat, sugar, or leavening Insufficient baking Cake removed too soon from pan

Tunnels Too many eggs or too little sugar Poorly mixed Butter overbeaten Failure to expel air when placed in pan (not cut with knife)

Sticky and shrunken crust Too much sugar Damp flour Insufficiently baked Incorrectly frozen and thawed FLAVOR Delicate, sweet Well blended Characteristic of ingredients

Bitter Too much baking soda or baking powder or other leavening agent Too much or too little flavoring Rancid or stale Rancid fat or stale ingredients (old or rancid nuts, strong or rancid vegetable oil, poor quality eggs)

Uneven flavor Under mixed

Strong Too much of an ingredient

What to Look For What Happened Because Of SHAPE

Slightly rounded top Peaked Batter too stiff Batter mixed too much Pan too small

Cracked Oven too hot

Too smooth crust Batter over mixed

Low volume Pan too large Not baked immediately after mixed

Center crack wet Not baked long enough Oven too hot

Dipped center (fallen) Oven not hot enough Not baked long enough COLOR

Evenly colored, medium to dark brown

Pale Not enough fat or sugar Wrong proportion of ingredients Bananas not ripe enough

Dark Oven too hot

Uneven coloring Pan not in middle of oven Too many pans in the oven Uneven heat in the oven

TEXTURE Tender, moist crumb Tough Too little fat Too much mixing Too stiff batter

Round, even cells Tunnels and holes Coarse, porous Dry, crumbly

Batter over mixed Batter too stiff Too much flour

Center crack dry Soggy Baked bread wrapped before completely cooling Not baked long enough Too much fruit FLAVOR

Rich, appealing flavor Off flavor State ingredients Too much leavening

Flat, bland flavor (for Banana Bread) Bananas not ripe enough Not enough salt

TOPPING Evenly spread Too thick Used more than necessary

Strong flavored Too much cinnamon

PIES

Only non-perishable pies are allowed to be judged or exhibited. This includes fruit or pecan pies. Custard or

meringue pies are not accepted. Fruit filling pies usually consist of fruit, fruit juice, sugar, and a thickener such as

cornstarch and/or tapioca. When baked, a typical homemade double-crust pie should have a blistery, pebbled

surface that promises flakiness. It should be baked to a golden brown perfection, with a slightly, darker brown

around its edges. It should be rolled fairly thin (1/8-inch) so that the entire crust will be crisp and fragile and

easily cut with a fork, flaky and tender but at the same time not too crumbly.

What to Look For What Happened Because Of Outside Characteristics CRUST Evenly browned appearance, light and flaky texture

Too light OR too dark Incorrect oven temperature Incorrect baking time Rolled out too thick or too think

Shrinks in pan Dough handled too much Dough stretched too tight in pan Dough stored too long in refrigerator Not pricked enough Used non stick pie pan and did not secure sides

FILLING Bubbling through top of crust Does not fill crust Not enough filling used Shrinkage of raw fruit not considered

Filling spills out on crust Oven temperature too low Insufficient sugar and/or fruit Insufficient thickening Too much sugar Upper crust shrinkage – not sealed properly Inside Characteristics CRUST Flaky and tender, evenly baked Tough Dough too warm when rolled out Too much water Over mixed Too much handling Too much flour used when rolling Not enough fat

Crumbly Improper cutting of fat Not enough water Too much fat Self rising flour was used

Soggy Under mixed Used a shiny pie pan Baked pie on pan on cookie sheet

FILLING Tender pieces of fruit, adequately baked and of equal size and shape

Undercooked Under baked Oven temp set too low

Dry Not enough liquid

Layer of thickening Too much thickening Under baked

Gummy Too much thickening

YEAST BREADS

There is little difference in the variety of ingredients used in yeast breads. The physical characteristics of these

products are very similar. Yeast breads contain little fat or eggs, compared to a sweet dough recipe. Sweet rolls

and coffee cakes are made from a rich, soft dough that contains more eggs, fat, and sugar than the dough used for

loaves of bread.

The process of making specialty yeast products and a loaf of bread are similar. Adequate development of gluten

either by kneading or beating is important for a successful product.

When a no-knead or batter bread is made, the thin batter is mixed quickly and thoroughly without kneading. The

batter is left in the mixing bowl for rising or placed directly in the baking pans. Batter breads have a more open

grain, lacy appearance, and an uneven surface.

The perfect yeast bread is varied. It can be coarse, heavy, crusty, chewy and flavorful, while others are light,

tender and delicate in taste. Flavors in yeast breads can range from sweet to savory to mildly sour. Bread dough

can be baked in loaf pans, as free-form loaves on cookie sheets or as individual-sized buns, twists, or rolls.

What to Look For What Happened Because Of SHAPE

Well proportioned Odd shape Improper molding Raised too long or too short Pan too large or too short

Evenly rounded Cracks and bulges Rapid cooling in draft Dough too stiff Incorrect oven temperature

Slight break and shred on edge of pan Higher on one side Pans too close together Uneven heat

VOLUME Light for size Heavy, coarse grain Poor yeast or yeast killed Ingredients not well mixed Low grade or not enough flour Dough too stiff Not raised enough Too large much low-gluten flours Salt omitted Rising time too long Under kneaded Oven too cool

Too large Raised too long Too slow oven

Too small Liquid in recipe too cool Too much salt Dough too stiff Not enough yeast Rising time too short Oven temperature too hot

Falls in oven Rising time too long Collapsed, because over-proofing weakened the gluten

FLAVOR

Blended flavor Flat Too little salt

Yeasty Too warm rising period Poor yeast or flour or too much yeast Too little sugar Baked too slowly or incompletely

Musty Moldy flour or ingredients Incomplete baking

Sour

Rancid

Not enough salt Rising time too long Too much eggs, milk, or sugar in proportion to yeast

Rancid fat COLOR

Inside appearance: creamy white with silky sheen (or appropriate coloring for grain used)

Dark Too cool oven Improper rising Stale yeast

Dark streaks Dough not covered when rising – surface of dough became dry before shaping Oven temperature too cool Bowl greased too heavily Rising time too long Improper or poorly mixing Too much flour or yeast added

Poor color Dough not covered during rising Rising time too long Too much flour during kneading and shaping Uneven mixing or baking CRUST

Outside appearance: crisp and tender, even golden brown

Tough and hard Baked too slow Drying of top Uneven heat or over baked Dough not kneaded enough Too much flour during mixing and kneading

Pale Too slow oven Too much salt Too little sugar Dough became dry during rising Rising time too short Under baked

Too brown on top Oven too hot or baked too long Incorrect location in oven Rising time too short

Not brown on sides Pans too shiny – heat reflected away from sides Poor pan placement – overcrowding Uneven heat in oven

Uneven, bulgy Uneven shaping Pan not in middle of oven Insufficiently proofed

Raw, starchy flavor Undercooked filling (thickening agent)

PASTRIES

The key to successful pastries lies in how the dough was mixed and rolled. Ingredients must be handled

delicately, and not mixed too much or too little if a high quality product is desired. Pastries have rough blistered

surfaces with no large air bubbles. They are golden brown in color, with the centers just a little lighter. They are

not shrunken and have attractive, sharp shapes with uniform thickness. Pastries are known by their delicate layers,

especially evident when the pastry is broken. They are crisp and flaky and cut easily with a fork but hold their

shape when lifted without falling apart. Examples include tarts, streusels, phyllo doughs, croissants, and Danishes.

What to Look For What Happened Because Of SHAPE Uniform size Attractive shape

Uneven shape Improper shaping Uneven time in oven Rising time too long or too short VOLUME

Light in size Heavy

Poor volume

Low grade flour or poor yeast Under kneaded Too cool while rising

Under proofed FLAVOR

Blended flavor Slightly sweet and nutty Richer than bread

Flat

Yeasty

Sour

Too little salt

Raised too long and too warm while rising Poor yeast or flour

Raised too long Too slow baking or too warm while baking COLOR Uniform Golden brown

Streaks Drying of dough at top Dark crumb

Pale

Poor mixing Adding flour at last stage Too cool oven Stale yeast

Too little sugar or too much salt TEXTURE

Tender, elastic crumb

Slightly moist Fine cells, soft and velvety

Crumbly

Compact at bottom

Sticky

Soft wheat flour Too little kneading

Not raised enough or under baked

Steamed by cooling in pan

CRUST

Tender, crisp Smooth crust

Tough

Cracks and bulges

Thick

Coarse

Too slow oven Under proofed – not raised enough Low grade flour Too much salt

Over handling of dough Not raised properly in oven Cooled to quickly

Too slow baking

Poor yeast or low grade flour Raised too much

CROISSANTS AND DANISHES

Croissant, Danish and puff pastry are all made from laminated (layered) dough. That is encasing butter in dough,

and taking it through a series of folds, rolling and turns to produce layers of butter in between sheets of dough.

The leavening in laminated dough is derived mainly from the steam generated by the moisture in the butter during

baking. The laminated fat acts as a barrier to trap the water vapor and carbon dioxide formed during baking. As

the steam expands in the oven it lifts and separates the individual layers. Danishes can also be made with a yeast

type dough, with a more bread-like texture.

PROBLEM POSSIBLE CAUSE SOLUTION

Butter/margarine breaks through the dough

Butter/margarine too cold Dough too soft Harsh sheeting reduction

Condition butter to 57-60 °F Reduce water in the dough Gradually reduce sheeting

Butter/margarine oozes out from the dough

Butter/margarine too warm Dough too warm Dough too tight

Condition butter to 57-60 °F Chill dough Increase water in the dough Butter melts Insufficiently laminated Room too warm

Work in a cooler room, or cooler time of day Apply more folds, minimum of 3 half folds

Pastry sticks Insufficient dusting Room temperature too warm

Use more dusting flour Work in a cooler room, or at a cooler time of day Reduce dough temperature

Flattened, wrinkled after baking

Baking sheet or pan knocked in the oven, or before entering the oven Baked in too hot an oven for too short a time

Shorten rising time Be careful when placing in the oven Adjust baking temperature

Small in volume, heavy and dense in texture

Under proofed (rise) Lack of humidity Oven too cold

Proof longer Increase humidity in proofer Increase oven temperature

Loss of sweetness, open texture and lack of crust color

Proofed too long Excessive retarding time

Reduce proofing time Reduce retarding time

Loss of flakiness and a bread like texture

Room too hot, causing butter to melt Oven too cool Over proofed

Work in a cooler room, or at a cooler time of day Increase oven temp Reduce proof time

Pale, moist and heavy after baking

Under baked in oven Increase baking temperature

Tough baked product Baking temperature too low Too little layering butter Too little dough butter

Increase roll-in butter Increase dough butter Increase baking temperature Blisters on baked product and product flow excessive

Excessive humidity Reduce humidity or bake on a cool, dry day